1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope imaging apparatus and to a biological-specimen examination system using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known apparatus for measuring fluorescence and so on of a biological specimen uses a microplate. Since the fluorescence intensity of a biological specimen is extremely dark, it is necessary to capture the fluorescence using a long exposure time. Also, since the microplate has a shape that is larger than the field of view of a microscope, it takes some time to examine the entire microplate.
One method of imaging such fluorescence is a method in which measurement is carried out with a CCD (charge coupled device) while the microplate is repeatedly moved and stopped. A plurality of wells are provided in the microplate, and the specimens are held in these wells. Therefore, by repeatedly moving and stopping the microplate, the fluorescence from the specimen in each well can be measured. The microplate is moved by means of a moving stage.
Another known method of imaging the fluorescence is a method using TDI (time delay integration) imaging devices (for example, see patent document 1). The imaging devices using the TDI method are constituted by a plurality of optoelectronic devices. Fluorescence from the specimen is incident on the optoelectronic devices, and a charge corresponding to the incident fluorescence is produced in the optoelectronic devices by optical-to-electrical conversion. This charge is then transferred between optoelectronic devices as the microplate moves. Since the motion of the microplate is associated with the motion of the charge, fluorescence from the same position on the specimen is incident again on the optoelectronic devices after they have been moved. As a result, the charge builds up. Thus, the charge is progressively accumulated when using the TDI method.
The feature of the TDI method is that charge corresponding to the fluorescence is accumulated while being transferred. Therefore, compared to the case where a one-dimensional line sensor is used for image acquisition, the speed at which the stage is moved can be increased according to the number of charge transfer lines. As a result, the measurement time can be shortened.